Ioannina

Energean expecting 3D survey results for Block 2 within ’23

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International hydrocarbon exploration and production company Energean expects to receive the results of a 3D seismic survey conducted by PGS last November at offshore Block 2 license, west of Corfu and reaching the marine border with Italy, within 2023, probably in the second half of the year, energypress sources have informed.

Energean heads a consortium also involving Helleniq Energy, formerly Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE), for this license.

Once the PGS findings have been received, Energean, depending on the prospects, may go ahead with exploratory drilling in 2024.

Energean expects to begin drilling sooner at its onshore Ioannina block, in the country’s northwest, as this license is at a more advanced stage. The company is currently writing up its response to observations raised, during consultation, on this venture’s environmental impact.

Energean may commence drilling at the Ioannina block in 2024 if an environmental permit is issued by autumn, a best-case scenario.

Helleniq Energy CEO Andreas Siamisiis has informed that no investment decisions are expected in 2023 for the company’s other offshore licenses, off Crete and in the Ionian Sea.

Shell gas prospects in Albania promising for Ioannina license

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Albania’s prospects of significant oil and gas discoveries that could boost the country’s future and also play a big role in Europe’s energy future, as announced by Prime Minister Edi Rama, could spell good news for a nearby Greek license in the country’s northwestern Epirus region.

Dutch energy giant Shell, a company that likes to keep its cards close to its chest, is preparing for drilling activities at Albania’s Shpirag 5 license, following successful exploration at Shpirag 4, which has delivered production totaling many thousands of barrels per day.

Shell Upstream Albania, Shell’s Albanian subsidiary, has been active in the neighboring country since 2018, pledging to invest more than 40 million euros over a seven-year period.

As for the Epirus license, in Greece’s wider Ioannina area, a consortium comprising Repsol and Energean has invested over 40 million euros, primarily for a seismic survey conducted in 2018 and 2019, a procedure through which an area to be further explored has been identified.

 

DESFA 10-yr plan worth €830m includes Ioannina expansion

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Gas grid operator DESFA’s latest ten-year development program, revised annually and now uploaded onto its official website for public consultation, includes projects with a total budget of 830 million euros.

The program, covering 2022 to 2031, includes new projects worth 183 million euros, plus projects worth 647 million euros that were included in the previous ten-year plan, covering 2021 to 2030.

The 183 million-euro amount, designated for twelve new projects budgeted at 161 million euros, includes gas network expansions into new areas, the main project here being an extension into northwestern Greece’s Ioannina area from the west Macedonia region in northern Greece, a project worth 156 million euros.

A further 14.5 million euros is planned to be invested in improving, modernizing and maintaining the country’s gas grid.

 

Repsol-Energean abandon rights for Etoloakarnania block

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A consortium comprised of Spanish petroleum group Repsol and Energean Oil & Gas has surrendered its hydrocarbon exploitation and production rights for on onshore license in the Etoloakarnania area, northwestern Greece, the partners informed EDEY, the Greek Hydrocarbon Management Company, last Friday, sources have revealed.

The partners attributed this decision to the sharp drop in oil prices that has made upstream investments unfeasible, as well as their environmental footprint efforts.

Repsol is also preparing to withdraw its interests from an offshore block in the Ionian Sea through a license it shares with Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE).

In addition, the Spanish group is reconsidering its interests in a license for an onshore block in Ioaninna, also in Greece’s northwest, sources informed. Repsol holds a 60 percent stake in this license, the other 40 percent belonging to Energean Oil & Gas. The partners face an April deadline for an investment decision concerning initial drilling.

Three months earlier, Repsol, through a strategic business plan covering 2021 to 2025, announced exploration and production investment cuts worth 700 million dollars, annually. The company plans to focus its activities in 14 countries, not including Greece.

Spain’s Repsol on verge of exiting Greek upstream market

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Spanish petroleum firm Repsol, a member of consortiums holding licenses to three fields in Greece, is on the verge of leaving the country’s upstream market as a part of a wider strategic adjustment prompted by the oil crisis and the pandemic, developments that have impacted exploration plans, as well as a company plan to reduce its environmental footprint, sources have informed.

The upstream industry has been hit hard by the pandemic, which has driven down prices and demand. The EU’s climate-change policies are another key factor behind Repsol’s decision.

Repsol is believed to have decided to significantly reduce the number of countries in which it is currently present for hydrocarbon exploration and production, the intention being to limit operations to the more lucrative of fields.

All three fields in Repsol’s Greek portfolio are still at preliminary research stages and do not offer any production assurances, meaning they will most probably be among the first to be scrapped by the company from its list of projects.

Respol formed a partnership with Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE) for offshore exploration in the Ionian Sea. Repsol is the operator in this arrangement. A license secured by the two partners for this region in 2018 was approved in Greek Parliament a year later.

Also, in 2017, Repsol agreed to enter a partnership with Energean Oil & Gas, acquiring 60 percent stakes, and the operator’s role, for onshore blocks in Ioannina and Etoloakarnania, northwestern Greece.

Repsol maintains interests in over 40 countries, producing approximately 700,000 barrels per day.

Upstream projects awaiting Greek State reassurances

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Local and foreign upstream companies holding exploration and production licenses for hydrocarbon reserves on Greek territory, offshore and onshore, are awaiting Greek State reassurances for their ventures following a cabinet reshuffle that has resulted in a change of leadership at the energy ministry, bringing in Kostas Skrekas in place of Costis Hatzidakis.

Oil companies, delaying investment plans as a result of the pandemic and lower oil prices, are waiting for a vote of confidence from the Greek State, market sources insist.

The fall in oil prices, currently at levels of about 50 dollar a barrel, may have halted upstream investments internationally, but, nevertheless, this is a good time for resolving bureaucratic obstacles and preparing local communities for prospective exploration efforts that promise to contribute to job creation and economic recovery.

Four upstream investment plans are currently either at an advanced stage in terms of prospective drilling or at preliminary exploration stages.

Of all four plans, Energean’s license for Katakolo, western Greece, is at the most mature stage. Public consultation on an environmental impact study concerning this project’s drilling requirements was completed in December, 2019. The regional authority for western Greece has offered its approval. Even so, a year later, the energy ministry has yet to deliver its decision on the environmental study.

A license for the Gulf of Patras field, held by Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE) and Edison, is also at a mature stage. The partners requested, and were granted, an extension for the start of drilling at this field. EDEY, the Greek Hydrocarbon Management Company, granted the pair a further 15 months, until January 23, 2023, to facilitate their preparations.

Sources have attributed this additional time to a lack of appropriate regional port facilities, needed to facilitate the installation of equipment required for drilling. ELPE and Edison had previously been given another extension, until October, 2021.

On another front, a partnership comprising Repsol and Energean has until April to start a second stage of exploration activities at its Ioannina block in northwestern Greece. Local community approval is needed. The government needs to take action on the issue.

A fourth upstream project carrying geopolitical weight concerns licenses held by a consortium made up of Total, ExxonMobil and ELPE for offshore fields west and southwest of Crete. Though company representatives recently informed Crete’s regional authorities that seismic surveys are planned to begin towards spring, there have been no further updates or any signs of action.

Repsol given 6-month extension for Ioannina license preliminary work

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A pandemic-related extension request made by Spain’s Repsol for an additional six-month period to complete preliminary research concerning a license in Ioannina, northwestern Greece, has been granted by EDEY, Greek Hydrocarbon Management Company, in a decision reached last week that resets the deadline for April 2, 2021.

Repsol, operator of a consortium formed with Energean Oil & Gas for the Ioannina license, had lodged its extension request late in August.

Repsol’s preliminary research work at the Ioannina license was initially expected to be completed by early October ahead of a decision on whether it would proceed with drilling.

The pandemic has severely impacted the upstream industry worldwide. Multinationals engaged in hydrocarbon research and production activities have severely limited their investment plans as a result of the pandemic’s impact on petroleum markets.

A rebound for the upstream sector appears highly unlikely any time soon given the rising second wave of coronavirus cases.

The EDEY extension will enable Repsol to conduct a more thorough analysis of seismic data collected and enable the company to hold on for the prospect of improved upstream industry conditions.

EDEY justified its extension by noting it will help the investors complete their assessment of technical work conducted during the preliminary stage.

 

 

Repsol-Energean given extra year for Ioannina license preliminary stage

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A consortium comprising Repsol and Energean Oil & Gas has been granted a one-year extension by EDEY, the Greek Hydrocarbon Management Company, to complete preliminary exploration work at an onshore license in the wider region of Ioannina, northwestern Greece.

Repsol, controlling a 60 percent stake in the consortium, and Energean, holding 40 percent stake, requested an additional year until October 2, 2020, to complete preliminary exploration work at the license.

This is the second deadline extension granted to Repsol-Energean for the license’s preliminary phase. A first extension, granted in 2017, expires next month. The consortium is currently processing new seismic data.

The EDEY extension decision also requires the consortium to complete a second exploration phase, involving deep drilling, by October 2, 2022, should the partners decide to pursue the license further.

The license location’s geological features, featuring rocky terrain, are considered challenging. Also, the two companies have faced resistance, at times extreme, from small groups representing local communities while conducting their seismic research and related activities. The support of local landowners exceeds 90 percent, which has enabled the completion of research work in recent weeks.

Repsol forced to up budget for Ioannina license seismic survey work

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Spanish energy company Repsol, the operator of a 60 percent stake in an onshore block in the Ioannina area, northwestern Greece, farmed out by Energean Oil & Gas, has been forced to revise upwards the project’s budget as a result of increased costs concerning 2D seismic survey work, made more challenging by the region’s landscape features.

Repsol, which has also had to deal with bureaucratic delays, has resumed hydrocarbon exploration work at the Ioannina license following a summer break.

Project costs have risen significantly for Repsol as a result of the company’s need to use specialized equipment, including helicopters, to minimalize the effort’s environmental impact and guarantee the safety of workers. Labor costs have also risen by the need for Repsol to employ more workers. They have ranged between 120 and 200 per day.

Greek energy ministry officials who are well informed on the effort believe further cost increases will be difficult to avoid, given the Ioannina project’s nature. Energean Oil & Gas has retained a 40 percent stake in the venture.

The seismic survey work being conducted in the Ioannina area represents the first such initiative taken in western Greece, onshore, over the past two decades. Lines totaling 400 km and covering seven municipalities are being explored.